Similar Datasets
Project description:Ingestion of Toxoplasma gondii results in life-long infection due to its ability to convert from the rapidly disseminating tachyzoite stage to the chronic, encysted bradyzoite stage. The control of mRNA translation has been suggested to play a key role in the signaling required to trigger bradyzoite formation. In eukaryotes, translational control primarily operates at two key points during the assembly of translation initiation factors. The phosphorylation of eIF2 affects mRNA start codon recognition and promotes differentiation in a variety of parasites. Modulating eIF4F function is the second pan-eukaryote regulatory point but remains unexplored in Toxoplasma. Here, we uncover the role that eIF4F-centric regulation plays in regulating bradyzoite formation by targeting the cap-binding subunit, eIF4E1. We discover that eIF4E1 coordinates two eIF4F complexes and binds the 5’-end of all mRNAs transcribed in tachyzoites, many of which show evidence of stemming from heterogenous transcriptional start sites. Together, this indicates that eIF4E1 is the predominant cap-binding protein in Toxoplasma tachyzoites. We also demonstrate that eIF4E1 knockdown or its chemical inhibition triggers the efficient formation of bradyzoites in the absence of other stresses and that stress-induced bradyzoites reduce their eIF4E1 expression. This study unearths a role for eIF4F-centric translational control in controlling Toxoplasma differentiation, suggesting that control of cap-dependent translation regulates the process of bradyzoite formation.
2023-11-02 | GSE243206 | GEO
Project description:Ingestion of Toxoplasma gondii results in life-long infection due to its ability to convert from the rapidly disseminating tachyzoite stage to the chronic, encysted bradyzoite stage. The control of mRNA translation has been suggested to play a key role in the signaling required to trigger bradyzoite formation. In eukaryotes, translational control primarily operates at two key points during the assembly of translation initiation factors. The phosphorylation of eIF2 affects mRNA start codon recognition and promotes differentiation in a variety of parasites. Modulating eIF4F function is the second pan-eukaryote regulatory point but remains unexplored in Toxoplasma. Here, we uncover the role that eIF4F-centric regulation plays in regulating bradyzoite formation by targeting the cap-binding subunit, eIF4E1. We discover that eIF4E1 coordinates two eIF4F complexes and binds the 5’-end of all mRNAs transcribed in tachyzoites, many of which show evidence of stemming from heterogenous transcriptional start sites. Together, this indicates that eIF4E1 is the predominant cap-binding protein in Toxoplasma tachyzoites. We also demonstrate that eIF4E1 knockdown or its chemical inhibition triggers the efficient formation of bradyzoites in the absence of other stresses and that stress-induced bradyzoites reduce their eIF4E1 expression. This study unearths a role for eIF4F-centric translational control in controlling Toxoplasma differentiation, suggesting that control of cap-dependent translation regulates the process of bradyzoite formation.
2023-11-02 | GSE243203 | GEO
Project description:Depletion of mRNA cap-binding protein eIF4E1 drives bradyzoite formation in Toxoplasma gondii
| PRJNA1017394 | ENA
Project description:Depletion of mRNA cap-binding protein eIF4E1 drives bradyzoite formation in Toxoplasma gondii [RIBO-seq]
| PRJNA1017399 | ENA
Project description:Depletion of mRNA cap-binding protein eIF4E1 drives bradyzoite formation in Toxoplasma gondii [CLIP-seq]
| PRJNA1017398 | ENA
Project description:The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii causes serious opportunistic disease due to its ability to persist in patients as latent tissue cysts. The molecular mechanisms coordinating conversion between proliferative parasites (tachyzoites) and latent cysts (bradyzoites) are not fully understood. We previously showed that phosphorylation of eIF2α accompanies bradyzoite formation, suggesting that this clinically relevant process involves regulation of mRNA translation. In this study, we investigated the composition and role of eIF4F multi-subunit complexes in translational control. Using CLIPseq, we find that the cap-binding subunit, eIF4E1, localizes to the 5’-end of all tachyzoite mRNAs, many of which show evidence of stemming from heterogenous transcriptional start sites. We further show that eIF4E1 operates as the predominant cap-binding protein in two distinct eIF4F complexes. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we found that eIF4E1 deficiency triggers efficient spontaneous formation of bradyzoites without stress induction. Consistent with this result, we also show that stress-induced bradyzoites exhibit reduced eIF4E1 expression. Overall, our findings establish a novel role for eIF4F in translational control required for parasite latency and microbial persistence.
2024-03-26 | GSE262241 | GEO
Project description:Human toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening disease caused by the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Rapid replication of the tachyzoite is associated with symptomatic disease, while suppressed division of the bradyzoite is responsible for chronic disease. Here, we identified the T. gondii cell cycle mechanism, the G1 restriction checkpoint (R-point), that operates the switch between parasite growth and differentiation. Apicomplexans lack conventional R-point regulators, suggesting adaptation of alternative factors. We showed that Cdk-related G1 kinase TgCrk2 forms alternative complexes with atypical cyclins (TgCycP1, TgCycP2, and TgCyc5) in the rapidly dividing developmentally incompetent RH and slower dividing developmentally competent ME49 tachyzoites and bradyzoites. Examination of cyclins verified the correlation of cyclin expression with growth dependence and development capacity of RH and ME49 strains. We demonstrated that rapidly dividing RH tachyzoites were dependent on TgCycP1 expression, which interfered with bradyzoite differentiation. Using the conditional knockdown model, we established that TgCycP2 regulated G1 duration in the developmentally competent ME49 tachyzoites but not in the developmentally incompetent RH tachyzoites. We tested the functions of TgCycP2 and TgCyc5 in alkaline induced and spontaneous bradyzoite differentiation (rat embryonic brain cells) models. Based on functional and global gene expression analyses, we determined that TgCycP2 also regulated bradyzoite replication, while signal-induced TgCyc5 was critical for efficient tissue cyst maturation. In conclusion, we identified the central machinery of the T. gondii restriction checkpoint comprised of TgCrk2 kinase and three atypical T. gondii cyclins and demonstrated the independent roles of TgCycP1, TgCycP2, and TgCyc5 in parasite growth and development. IMPORTANCE Toxoplasma gondii is a virulent and abundant human pathogen that puts millions of silently infected people at risk of reactivation of the chronic disease. Encysted bradyzoites formed during the chronic stage are resistant to current therapies. Therefore, insights into the mechanism of tissue cyst formation and reactivation are major areas of investigation. The fact that rapidly dividing parasites differentiate poorly strongly suggests that there is a threshold of replication rate that must be crossed to be considered for differentiation. We discovered a cell cycle mechanism that controls the T. gondii growth-rest switch involved in the conversion of dividing tachyzoites into largely quiescent bradyzoites. This switch operates the T. gondii restriction checkpoint using a set of atypical and parasite-specific regulators. Importantly, the novel T. gondii R-point network was not present in the parasite's human and animal hosts, offering a wealth of new and parasite-specific drug targets to explore in the future.
| S-EPMC9241953 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Two samples, 0hr and 72hr, were used to generate tachyzoite and bradyzoite transcriptional data from tissue-cultured Toxoplasma gondii strain Prugniaud, respectively.
2010-06-15 | GSE22258 | GEO
Project description:Two samples, 0hr and 72hr, were used to generate tachyzoite and bradyzoite transcriptional data from tissue-cultured Toxoplasma gondii strain Prugniaud, respectively. Samples are single replicates, and a subset of a larger timeseries. Non-control sample was exposed to alkaline conditions, media pH 8.2, for 72hr.
2010-06-15 | E-GEOD-22258 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite of great importance to human and animal health. In the host, this obligate intracellular parasite persists as a tissue cyst that is imperceptible to the immune response and unaffected by current therapies. The tissue cysts facilitate transmission through predation and give rise to chronic cycles of toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients. Transcriptional changes accompany conversion of the rapidly replicating tachyzoites into the encysted bradyzoites, and yet the mechanisms underlying these alterations in gene expression are not well defined. Here we show that AP2IX-4 is a nuclear protein exclusively expressed in tachyzoites and bradyzoites undergoing division. Knockout of AP2IX-4 had no discernible effect on tachyzoite replication but resulted in a reduced frequency of tissue cyst formation following alkaline stress induction-a defect that is reversible by complementation. AP2IX-4 has a complex role in regulating bradyzoite gene expression, as the levels of many bradyzoite mRNAs dramatically increased beyond those seen under conditions of normal stress induction in AP2IX-4 knockout parasites exposed to alkaline media. The loss of AP2IX-4 also resulted in a modest virulence defect and reduced cyst burden in chronically infected mice, which was reversed by complementation. These findings illustrate that the transcriptional mechanisms responsible for tissue cyst development operate across the intermediate life cycle from the dividing tachyzoite to the dormant bradyzoite. IMPORTANCEToxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that persists in its host as a transmissible tissue cyst. How the parasite converts from its replicative form to the bradyzoites housed in tissue cysts is not well understood, but the process clearly involves changes in gene expression. Here we report that parasites lacking a cell cycle-regulated transcription factor called AP2IX-4 display reduced frequencies of tissue cyst formation in culture and in a mouse model of infection. Parasites missing AP2IX-4 lose the ability to regulate bradyzoite genes during tissue cyst development. Expressed in developing bradyzoites still undergoing division, AP2IX-4 may serve as a useful marker in the study of transitional forms of the parasite.
| S-EPMC5352832 | biostudies-literature